Design and Fabrication of an Electric Power Generator Prototype: The Road as a Source of Clean Energy

Abstract

The demand for energy has greatly increased. The current sources of clean energy are not able to supply enough amount of energy. Consequently, Fossil fuels are still highly used in many countries. These are harmful to the environment. In addition, their sources are being depleted with time. Therefore, there is need to explore new sources of clean energy to solve this problem. In our project, we have designed a machine that can generate electricity from the energy of moving vehicles. We have introduced a new setup to of mechanical motion rectifier MMR. It has been shown that, a rack system that utilize both the downward and upward motion to drive a pinion increase the rotation time of a generator by 89.2% compared to devices that utilize the downward motion only. We have achieved peak power output ranging from 6.268W to 7.596W when masses from 26Kg to 40Kg were placed on the speed bump. This study gives useful information that will contribute to the future studies of similar devices and clean energy production.